Detachable electric fixture



A ril 10, 1928.

W. SYMMES DETACHABLE ELECTRIC FIXTURE Filed Nov. 8, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet l WITNESS INVENTOR Wh/fman \fymmes 75 ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 10, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IVHITMAN SYMMES, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO THOMAS DAY COMPANY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

DETACHABLE ELECTRIC FIXTURE.

Application filed November 8,.1921. Serial No. 513,662.

The invention relates to removable electric lighting fixtures and particularly to side wall fixtures which are securely and detachabl'y supported on wall plates.

An object of the invention is to provide a removable wall fixture which may not be accidently dislodged.

Another objectof the invention is to provide a removable wall fixture which is firmly supported independent of the electrical connection, so that no supporting strains are placed on the electrical devices.

Another object of the invention is to provide a removable wall fixture which is rigidly held against turning and which is held tightly against and flush with the wall.

A further object of the invention isv to provide a removable wall.fixture which may be adjusted to properly dispose it on the wall.

The invention possesses other advantageous features, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth at length in the following description, where I shall outline in full. that form of the invention which I haveselected for illustration in the drawings accompanying and forming partof the present specification. In said drawings I have shown one specific embodiment of my' invention, but it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to such form, since the invention, as set forth in the claims, may be embodied in a plurality of forms. The device of my invention comprises broadly two parts, a wall plate, adapted to be fixed in wall and to lie flush therewith and containing supporting and positioning means for the bracket and an electric outlet or socket and a detachable bracket having a back pro vided with means for interengageinent with the supporting and positioning means and a plug or electric contact device for engagement with the socket or outlet.

Referring to the accompanying drawings:

I Fig. l is an elevation of one form of wall plate.

Fig. 2 is a "ertical section through a wall, presenting a side elevation of the wall plate, a portion thereof being shown in section.

Fig. 3 is a side'elevation of the bracket. Fig. 4. is a rear elevation of the bracket back.

Fig. 5 is a'vertieal section through a bracket back and a wall plate in cooperative relationship.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the bracket back showing a modified form of electric plug attachment.

It is desirable that removable bracket lighting fixtures be mounted securely on the wall, so that they will not become accidently dislodged by a person moving about the room or manipulating the fixture. The t'xture of my invention is so constructed that it is firmly held in place and cannot'be readily dislodged, except by moving the fixture in a prcdctern'iined direction, which direction is not the direction in which the fixture might be accidently moved. Further the fixture of my invention is supported independently of the electrical connections between the socket and the plug, s'othat no supporting strain is placed on the electrical connecting devices, thereby permitting standard electric fittings to be employed. When the fixture is in place, it is firmly held against disarrangement by interengageme'nt of parts of'the wall plate and fixture back, independent of the electrical connections. It frequently happens, that the workman in installing the wall plate, places it-slightly out of proper position, so that the applied fixture is not perpendicular or horizontal, as desired. The fixture of my invention is adjustable, so that the improper positioning of the fixture maybe readily corrected.

My invention comprises a wall plate or receptacle element, having a front plate 2 which is set flush with the surface of the wall, the size of the plate being preferably such that it is completely covered by the back of the applied fixture. The plate 2 is provided on its front face with a recess 3, preferably substantially rectangular in shape, for the reception of positioning elements and electric connecting elements 'arranged on the bracket back. The recess is defined at the-back by the rearwall 4, which may be formed integral with theplate, and the means for supporting the fixture extends through ana'pe'rture 5, formed in said wall. The Wall 4 is provided, preferably at its lower portion, with an aperture 5*, behind which is' arranged the electrical outlet or socket fixture 6, the fixture usually comprising contacts 7 arranged in a'housing 8 of insulating material. The contacts 7 are exposed toward the recess 3, so that a contact plug may be readily engaged with the contacts in the outlet fitting.

Secured to and extending backwardly and downwardly from the back wall t and registering with the aperture 5 therein, is a guide or supporting element 9 for the complementary engaging element on the bracket back. The guide element is preferably tubular or partly tubular in form so that it forms a vertical and a lateral guide for the engaging element on the bracket back, causing said element to move in a path substantially coaxial with its axis. This causes the bracket to move in a straight line, with its parts maintaining parallelism, during its engagement or disengagement.

The lighting fixture bracket 12 is provided with a back 13, having a thickened or raised edge or marginal portion 14, forming a recess within the back on its rear surface. Disposed within the recess is a boss or strap 15, preferably perpendicularly disposed, and preferably secured to the back by a screw 16, although it may be formed integral when desired. The boss or strap 15 projects in part or wholly, beyond the edge of the mar ginal portion 14, in the present instance, the boss projecting partially, by means of the pad or enlargement 18 thereon. This pad is of slightly less width than the recess in the wall plate, and when the bracket is in place, is disposed in the recess and preferably fits snugly therein, thereby supporting the fixture against twisting 0r disarra11gement. Projecting backwardly and downwardly from the strap or pad, is a peg or lug 17 which extends through the aperture 5 in the wall plate and lies within the guide 9. The weight of the fixture is carried by the peg or lug, thus relieving the electrical connecting fittings of any supporting strain. The engagement of the peg and the guide necessitates the movement oil the bracket in a downwardly inclined direction when attaching the bracket and in an upwardly inclined direction when detaching the bracket. The inclination of the peg and guide with respect to the bracket back is such that the back must be vertically disposed and parallel to the wall and as the bracket is moved toward or from the wall, this parallelism is maintained, so that the back moves firmly against the wall without relative movement transversely when in contact with the wall, so that marring 0f the wall is prevented. The back is preferably larger in area than the wall plate, so that when the fixture is in place, the wall plate is concealed.

Attached to the boss or strap 15, adjacent the lower portion thereof, is an electric plug fitting 21 having contact blades 22 which engage the contacts 7 in the outlet fitting- 6, the contacts 7 being suificiently long that contacts 22 remain in engagement therewith ular, so that the applied fixture may be slightly tilted to one side or the other, making it unsightly. To overcome this, the boss or strap 15, may be made angularly adjustable within the back, to compensate for the inaccuracy of the workman. This may be accomplished by providing the strap with an arcuate countersunk slot 23, concentric with the screw 16, in which is disposed a screw 24, seated in the back. By loosening the screw 24, the angular position of the strap may be varied and the screw then tightened to hold it in the adjusted position.

VVhendesired, the plug may be flexibly, instead of rigidly connected to the back. Such structure is shown in Fig. 6, wherein the plug 25 is attached by the flexible fixture wires 26. In applying a bracket of this type, the plug is first inserted in the socket and the peg is then inserted into the guide and the fixture moved into place.

I claim:

1. The combination in a removable electric li ting fixture, of a wall plate having a re cess therein and provided at its upper por tion with an aperture, an electrical receptacle seated behind said plate below said aperture with the :tace of the receptacle forming a portion of the back the recess, an electric lightii'ig fixture bracket having a back, a prong on said back adapted to be inserted in said aperture. an electrical. plug on said back below said prong adapted to engage said recepta cle and a projection on the back shaped to fit said. recess.

2. The combination in a removable electric lighting fixture. of a wall plate having a recess therein. provided with a back wall having an aperture therein at the upper portion oi the recess, an electrical receptacle seated behind said plate below said aperture, with the face of the receptacle "forming a portion of the back of the recess, the recess extending above and below said .recptacle, an electric lighting fixture bracket, a prong on said bracket adapted to engage in said aperture to support the fixture, an electric plug on said bracket adapted to engage said receptacle and a projection on said bracket adapted to seat snugly in the recess in the plate above and below said receptacle, to prevent strain due to twisting of the fixture from being imposed on said receptacle.

The combination in a removable electric lighting fixture, of a wall plate having a reccss therein, provided with a back wall having an aperture therein at the upper portion of the recess, an inclined guide extending downward from said wall at said aperture, an electrical receptacle seated behind said plate below said aperture, with the face of the receptacle forming a portion of the back of the recess, the recess extending below said receptacle, an electric lighting fixm lture back, an inclined prong on said back adapted to extend thru said aperture into engagement with said guide, an electric plug on said back adapted to engage said receptado and a projection on said back adapted to seat in the recess below said receptacle, to prevent strain due to the twisting of the fixture from being imposed on said receptacle.

In, testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

WHITMAN SYMMES. 

